17 Comments:

Libby declined to testify in his own defense because he was protecting VP Cheney. This is really all about protecting Cheney, who has declared that he is not part of the Executive Branch after claiming that he was not part of the Legislative Branch.

I guess this whole administration is part of the Judicial Branch, now. Which makes sense. *eyeroll*

What I don't get is why Republicans want to invest the Executive Branch with such power. They must be pretty sure of their ability to hang on to the White House. Otherwise, the shoe is on the other foot. Frankly, I wouldn't like that, either. It's just wrong for the entire country.

It will be interesting when I go to Washington DC this fall to see what the mood in the city is. I can't say that I'm surprised, either, although the speed of this and Bush's careless dispatch did take me aback. I know that this stuff goes on all the time; I work in a one-party town myself (Democrat, and formerly in government) and it's all bullshit, frankly. But this is beyond the pale. Yes, it's a power that the President has, and it's not a full pardon, but this is really going to blow up in Bush's face. This smacks of rich-guy privilege and it's already pissing people off. After all there was a reason why Clinton waited until he was about to leave office to pardon his friends. And hell, not many people knew who Susan McDougall or Mark Rich were (although I did).

Considering that Ford was considered a hero among Republicans for pardoning Nixon, I am not surprised that this commutation happened. And I think it will be hard to get any traction. Look at how the Gonzales thing has died down in the last month with no questions ever having been addressed!

Janine is exactly right. Bush and his minions are theocrats, so whatever they do to advance the cause is justifiable because they answer to a "higher law".

It's sickening that people would willingly hand over their minds like that. It's frightening to contemplate just how far they might be willing to go.

I can't convince myself to rule out the possibility that come time to leave office, The Glorified Houseplant Who Would Be Caesar will come up with some excuse about the "War on Terror" to declare martial law and refuse to leave.

OT - You may need to call in some AtBC minions in the poetry contest. Max's storm troopers are taking over.

I think we've reached a critical point in our tolerance of political corruption and Kafka-esque governance with this administration. Personally, I hope that with extraordinary citizen involvement and perseverance, we might still be able to pull back from this slide into the kind of theocracy envisioned by Margaret Atwood, but it won't be easy.